Academia de Idiomas Kunz, Corralejo

Whilst in high school in Fuerteventura, Alina perceived the great inequality between local people and foreigners when it came to finding a job in such a tourism-oriented island like this one. As a «majoguiri» —born of an Austrian-Swiss mother and an Argentinian father, grown between Fuerteventura, Switzerland and Austria— she saw she had many more chances than her companions, and she was especially struck by the fact that for girls it was even harder to find a good job. «If they only knew foreign languages, it would be a totally different story», she thought, and with this idea in her mind, Alina Kunz studied in England, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Italy. She trained as a teacher for children and young people, specialising in alternative pedagogies, and as a Spanish, German and Italian language teacher for adults.

«I had the chance to receive an all-round education with practical experience in Europe and with teachers who were keen to change their students’ world. That’s where my desire to do the same thing in Fuerteventura started. I came back to my island with two qualifications, a son, a big life project and I founded Academia de Idiomas Kunz, in July 2015. It’s already 3 years old now!».

Now, the academy is a training centre with three rooms where, besides Alina, also Cristina —a biologist and teacher— and José Ángel —an engineer— hold classes with great passion, trying to motivate their students.

Which courses do you offer?
German and English lessons for adults, teenagers and children. Adult classes are dynamic and focused on the labour world. Spanish classes for tourists and foreign residents; school support lessons; computer courses. We prepare job interviews in other languages, and we are trained for children with special needs, with high abilities or with syndromes such as Asperger’s, for example. We are also constantly training on techniques for dyslexic people.

Who are these courses aimed to?
Locals and tourists, since the special thing about Corralejo is that it gathers foreign and native people all together. Why shouldn’t they be educated together? Our philosophy is to offer a continuous education, that is to say, that you keep on learning during all of your life. We also offer an integration Spanish course for immigrant women.

How is Kunz different from other academies?
My great passion is the sea and the underwater world. In my academy I combine this passion with teaching, so that my students can participate in beach cleanings, meet people from other cultures, attend free talks. Children can participate in creative consciousness-raising workshops. Our method tries to reflect the real life, offering situations to communicate and learn in a funny way. In order to learn something or to encourage someone to study, the most important thing is motivation. Motivated people just need a guide who indicates them their own path and shows them the tools: this is my job!